The Lost Books of the Sierra Madre

Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 08:43 AM

While moving to the new Sheldon studio in February, my wife discovered a box of "A Well Balanced Meal" books.

"A Well Balanced Meal", if you remember, was my first collection of comics, and features the first appearance of Sheldon.

We had sold out of these books a good while back...so finding a box o'books kind of took us by surprise. (Ah, the joys of clutter.)

After thinking about what to do with them, I’ve decided to keep three for myself, and offer up the rest as a bundle pack. Sheldon newsletter
readers got first crack at 'em...so now there are only 20 left.

In one throw, you'll own the entire three-book collection: "Pure Ducky Goodness", "The Good, The Bad and The Pugly”, and "A Well Balanced Meal". And if you already have one of the books, you can give the gift of Sheldon to a loved one, get on their "Awesome" list, and still pick up something cool for yourself.

These last copies of "A Well Balanced Meal" are ever-so-slightly scuffed on the binding edge, but in such manner as may not even be noticeable. All three books will be signed and dated, wrapped in collector's plastic, and shipped with love.

Dead as a Doornail (Followup)

Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 07:49 AM

An interesting note from Sheldon reader Doug regarding "dead as a doornail":

Want to know what that phrase means? Ask your friendly neighborhood blacksmith.
I've been doing living history for years at a reconstructed 1820s military fort. The doors to my quarters are made from thick planks held together by cross and diagonal planks. These are secured by large square handmade nails. Doornails to be exact. The article is correct concerning the way the nails are bent. They are then actually driven back into the surface of the door (buried) so that nothing remains to catch clothing, fingers, etc. Thus the nail was referred to as dead.
Until the late 1800s nail were all handmade by blacksmiths, one at a time. So it wasn't unusual for old nails to be salvaged, heated, straightened, and used again. But the technique used to set doornails rendered them both immobile and forever after unusable.
This information was all imparted to me by our blacksmith one day while I was watching him make nails. Ain't history cool!

Thanks, Doug -- that is pretty neat.

Also, thanks to the 58 people who e-mailed me to let me know that my *snif* long-cherished origin story for "saved by the bell" was *snif* incorrect. It's NOT connected to the Black Plague.

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